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Taron Egerton May Star in Elton John Biopic Rocketman

Taron Egerton's next project may involve a lot of piano playing, singing and sparkles as the young actor is rumored to play Sir Elton John in the musician's long planned biopic titled Rocketman. Egerton may currently be playing around with deadly but nifty gadgets like a briefcase machine gun as he reprises his breakout role as Eggsy Unwin in Kingsman: The Secret Service sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. But he may soon have to ditch the spy world for a career in the music industry onscreen as he is apparently the favorite to take on the role previously rumored to be Tom Hardy's. Both actors have worked together before in the crime thriller, Legend.

The film has been in the can for quite some time now with Hardy supposedly attached to it since 2013. Set to pick up during the early days of John's life right after he won a piano scholarship and subsequently record and compose some of the biggest pop songs in the '70s, the project will not go into details regarding some of the more controversial aspects of his life.

Courtesy of an article from Daily Mail UK, Egerton is said to be the frontrunner to play the lead of the movie which has an existing script written by Lee Hall. Further, the Dexter Fletcher-directed project is also reportedly being fast-tracked with principal photography set to kick-off sometime by the end of the year. Rocketman is a collaborative project between John’s Rocket Pictures and Matthew Vaughn’s Marv Films.

On the surface, Egerton seems to be an odd choice for the role. But taking a closer look on the casting decision eventually makes sense with the film being produced by Vaughn who basically discovered the British actor when he cast him in the first Kingsman film and continued to work with him in its upcoming sequel. Outside of the contemporary spy franchise, the two have also worked together in Eddie the Eagle - the biopic of legendary professional ski jumper Eddie Edwards (which was also directed by Fletcher) who was brilliantly played by Egerton opposite Hugh Jackman as the character's fictional coach, Bronson Peary.

On top of his biopic and connection credentials, Egerton also has the singing chops to belt out John's slew of hits. As a matter of fact, the actor who voiced Sing's orangutan Johnny and sang the Rocketman's "I'm Still Standing" as his final performance piece in the animated film. Interestingly, the two are also expected to have had some interactions with one another as the singer/songwriter is confirmed for a small part in The Golden Circle.

Meanwhile, as we wait for any official casting information for Rocketman, fans of Egerton will not have to worry about any lack of projects for the budding actor. After the release of the The Golden Circle in September, he still has other movies waiting on the docket including the highly anticipated Billionaire Boys Club, Robin Hood and Pigeon Impossible.